Chapter Sixteen - Onwards!
August 12th, 2022
Pokémon Centre, Sparrow Town, Asture Region
"We arrived in Robin City and went straight to sleep so we have no idea yet if there's any signs of Team Omni here," Constance said from the other end of the call. "We'll do a thorough search today."
"Let's hope that you find some sign of them," Raine said, sipping gratefully from a warm travel mug of coffee. "Mirella and I ran into the PokéTinker last night and had a bit of a confrontation with him. It seems like he isn't working for Team Omni, but we're not exactly certain. He showed us the house where Team Omni had been hiding here in Sparrow Town and there were no clues at all to be found. So today we're going to continue our search for Gaia."
"So you were able to do some research of your own then?"
"I had a little help, but yes. If Gaia is hiding somewhere in Asture we know that Finch Forest is one of the last places that she was seen."
"Well, I'm glad that you are on the right track so quickly and that Mirella decided to go with you. I was worried about letting you go off alone."
"What's there to worry about, I'm just trying to capture a legendary Pokémon," Raine laughed. "That should be an easy feat, right?"
Constance laughed and her face lit up. She was at least ten years younger than Raine. He had to control himself. This was no time to start developing feelings. No matter how easy it felt to be around her and how she eased his worries and tension.
"I, uh, should get going," Raine said awkwardly. "We both have a lot to do today."
"What was that?" Mirella asked, watching Raine blush furiously as he said his farewells to Constance.
"What?" Raine asked shyly.
"You and Constance were clearly sharing a moment. What happened while I was taking care of Zangoose?"
"Nothing. We're just being friendly."
"Sure," Mirella said, fighting a smile at the corners of her lips. "How are your feet? Ready for another solid day of walking?"
"Ugh, don't remind me. I have blisters growing on blisters on sores and pain."
"We've barely even gotten started. How are you going to cope with endless days of walking around Finch Forest looking for Gaia?"
Raine scooped up his backpack and settled it on his hips and shoulders. "I just have to cope, don't I?"
Route Four to the West of Sparrow Town was long and hard. Every step of it was agony for Raine's poor body. He was not built for such an arduous journey. No wonder he had been so happy to spend his life in the lab in Jay Town and never go on the road.
The only positive part of the journey was the plethora of Pokémon that he got to see and scan with his Pokédex. There seemed to be no limit to the number of different species that lived in the tall grass at the sides of the road. Raine was on the constant lookout for the right Pokémon to add to his slowly growing team. But Mirella kept a strong unflinching pace and wouldn't give in to any of his desperation to just stop and study any of the Pokémon. She just wanted to get to Finch Forest with daylight to spare so that they could set up camp and then relax. Even though it should have been a multi-day walk.
The Pokémon Hub at the exact halfway point between Sparrow Town and the entry to Finch Forest should have proven that fact. Yet they walked straight past the Pokémon Centre slash PokéMart, ignoring its deliciously tantalising rooms for hire in search of hard dirt at the end of the road.
They didn't even stop for lunch and besides his soreness Raine was growing grumpy. He understood the necessity to reach their destination, but it was only causing harm at the rate that they were going.
Somewhere about halfway between the PokéHub and Finch Forest Raine simply stopped and sat down on a welcoming rock off the side of the road.
"I'm done, Mir," he called at Mirella's retreating back as he dumped his pack.
She came back and stood at his side with her hands on her hips. "We can't stop here. We're so close to beating the sun."
"I can't do it. Let's rest here for the night and I'll try and punish myself tomorrow with the rest of the walk."
Mirella looked around at the grassy pasture on the side of the road that Raine had chosen and saw as well as he had that there was no safe place to rest. They would be out in the open with no shelter or freshwater. "Not the best spot, Raine," she said. "We're likely to get attacked by some of these wild Pokémon."
Raine looked out into the grass and saw hundreds of bird Pokémon flying around as well as the heads of many grazing Pokémon peeking above the blades. It was only the sight of an Electabuzz that caused him any alarm at all. "What are you afraid of?"
"We don't exactly have much protection between us," Mirella explained. "Not with Zangoose so damaged. If any of these wild Pokémon attack we're too exposed."
Raine forced himself to stand on wobbly legs and regretted it immediately. But he had something to do. He pointed one hand at the Electabuzz's bobbing head and aimed the Pokédex at it with the other.
"Electabuzz," the Pokédex said. "When a storm arrives, gangs of this Pokémon compete with each other to scale heights that are likely to be stricken by lightning bolts. Some towns use Electabuzz in place of lightning rods."
"If I capture them and we have Buizel, Teddiursa and Furret we should be fine," Raine said confidently. He unclipped Buizel's Poké Ball from his belt and threw it on the ground at the edge of the grass. "Go, Buizel!"
"Is this really the best idea?" Mirella asked. "Damaging your one Pokémon in order to catch another?"
"Are you okay?" Raine asked, leaving Buizel scrounging around and turning to face Mirella. "I know that you're upset about what happened to Zangoose, but you seem to have no confidence."
"I don't want to talk about it. I thought we had established that already with our silent walking." She turned and strode off down the road.
Raine watched her, hoping that she wasn't just leaving without him, but she eventually stopped about fifty metres away and sat on her own rock. He turned to face Buizel and knowing that he faced a tough type matchup sent him forward towards Electabuzz anyway. Buizel skittered through the grass on all fours as Raine crept forwards into the grass himself so that he could call his commands.
"Buizel, use a Quick Attack," Raine called, even though he couldn't see the battle that was about to take place.
Electabuzz stumbled from being hit in the side and instantly lit up the ground with a barrage of lightning. Every other Pokémon scattered, taking off into safer areas. Buizel must have dodged the attack because his head popped up several metres behind Electabuzz.
Raine was smart enough not to use any water-based attacks, but that didn't leave Buizel with a large range of moves. "Buizel, Agility," he commanded.
The tips of the grass swayed where Buizel ran circles around Electabuzz, causing them to spin in rapid circles. Electabuzz continued to lash out with lightning, setting small fires that were quickly extinguished by a cool breeze. After nearly ten full revolutions Electabuzz finally stopped turning and seemed to be about to fall over from dizziness.
"Buizel, finish him off with Pursuit."
Buizel rocketed out of the grass and slammed his full body weight into Electabuzz's torso. They both went down in a heap, disappearing in the tall grass.
Raine took the opportunity to line up his body and throw an empty Poké Ball at the spot where they had collapsed. He had no idea if he had thrown on target until he called Buizel's name. The little orange head popped up above the grass and then he lifted a Poké Ball between his fins.
"Bui, Bui," he chirruped.
Raine limped forward and took the occupied Poké Ball. This Pokémon Trainer thing was easier than he had ever expected. But maybe that was just because he had the perfect partner in Buizel.
"Good job, Buizel," Raine said, scratching the top of Buizel's head.
"Well done," Mirella said from beside the rock Raine had been sitting on earlier. "Other than scaring me half to death with its lightning you did well to keep Electabuzz quiet until you caught them."
Raine wandered slowly over to her, clipping the new Pokémon onto his belt. "It's not always this easy, right? Wild Pokémon usually put up more of a challenge."
"You're not likely to come up against the strongest Pokémon around here," Mirella explained. "We're still technically in what's termed as the Starter Zone near Jay and Sparrow Towns. Once we enter Finch Forest things will get a bit tougher though, so don't get cocky."
"Trust me, I'm not cocky in the slightest. I'm just surprised how well I've been doing with so little experience. Is this how every trainer feels?"
"Newbie trainers tend to fill out their party pretty quickly around here with a lot of low powered Pokémon. You're going to need to train really hard to get up to scratch."
"Will you still train me, like we agreed before all of this happened?"
"Of course, I need to train Furret as much as I can now that I can't rely on Zangoose."